Advertising Private Offerings: Oxymoron? Successful? Yes and Yes

The Prodigy Network, led by Rodrigo Nino, is a real estate crowdfunding site that has already raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Since Title II of the JOBS Act was implemented one year ago on September 23, 2013, much of the money the company has raised in the U.S. has been under these new rules.

Title II of the JOBS Act allows "General Solicitation," that is advertising, of private offerings with certain restrictions, most notably that the actual sale of securities under such an offering be limited exclusively to accredited investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission rules under Regulation D, 506c limit define the conduct of a general solicitation for a private offering. Best practices in the industry are still developing.

On Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 4:00 Eastern, Nino will join me for a live discussion about the effect of the rules on private capital markets in the U.S. Tune in here to watch the interview live.

Founded in 2003, Prodigy Network specializes in connecting its network of accredited investors with opportunities to participate in prime commercial real estate in Manhattan. With its proven crowdfunding model and use of a third-party fund administrator, Prodigy Network has shifted real estate investment opportunities and returns - that once were solely accessible to large investors - to smaller accredited investors. As the leader of the world's largest crowdfunded skyscraper BD Bacata, Prodigy Network has raised more than $300 million from 6,200 investors globally with a projected value of over $850 million. Prodigy Network is headquartered in New York City.

Nino's bio:

Rodrigo Nino, CEO and founder of Prodigy Network, is revolutionizing both the commercial real estate and crowdfunding industries by being the first to meld the two worlds in the United States.

A Colombian native and a Manhattan resident, Nino has proven Prodigy Network’s crowdfunding model as an efficient and secure mechanism that enables smaller investors from around the world to invest in specific projects that were solely accessible to the very wealthy before.

With this model, Nino has raised more than $300 million from 6,200 investors and is currently developing commercial real estate projects in Bogota and Manhattan with a projected value of more than $850 million. Major money center banks like Deutsche Bank, CIBC and Bank of America provided traditional financing for Prodigy’s Manhattan projects, giving further validation to Nino’s model.

Well-established operators and developers, like Korman Communities, a four-generation firm who has constructed more than 30,000 single-family homes, 12,000 apartments and townhouses, as well as two million square feet of industrial and commercial space have partnered up with Prodigy in the development of two Manhattan properties, AKA Wall Street and AKA United Nations.

Most recently, Professor Karim Lakhani from Harvard Business School published a teaching case on Nino’s work titled, Prodigy Network: Democratizing Real Estate Design and Financing (http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47056). Nino believes that crowdfunding will democratize commercial real estate by providing a new asset class for small investors, revolutionizing the industry.

Nino was the creator of My Ideal City, the first bottom up pilot-approach to a continuous urban design platform (www.myidealcity.com). Beyond commercial real estate, Nino believes the crowd can finance the solution of many of its own urban needs in cities for a profit. According to Nino, this shared value paradigm can level up the playing field for everyone. He sees “The world economy evolving into a Crowd–Economy, where profit and positive impact are democratically lined up,” thanks to technology and new legislation.